


The Cephalopods are in love

by Kia619



Series: Angstgent 24 [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, Lesbian Cephalopods (Splatoon), Ponytail Agent 8, Romance, Updates on Sundays, Useless Lesbians, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kia619/pseuds/Kia619
Summary: Agent 8 has made it out of Kamabo, and is excited to integrate into Inkling society. Meanwhile Agent 3 is busy trying to figure out why her head hurts all the time and why she can't help but get flustered in the presence of a certain Octoling.





	1. Scars

Agent 3 was strong, she was fierce, she was intense. Her friends and her enemies knew this very well. But, there was one thing about Agent 3 that she dare not let even her closest friends know about her.

Agent 3 hated herself.

She didn’t hate everything about herself, that would be absurd. She likes the physique she obtained by working with the NSBS, her body was muscular and she looked like she could probably lift the Octobot King if she wanted to. And many of her battle scars painted across her body told a story of daring adventure and death-defying action.

But there was one scar that she held no such feelings towards. There was one scar that, every time she saw it, made her feel like a failure. And the worst part? It was painted right across her face.

\--

7am, Agent 3’s apartment

Agent 3’s alarm went off, blaring the most annoying sound any cephalopod had ever heard.  
3’s fist came slamming down on it, aaand now it’s smashed to pieces.

“Oh for fucks sake” Three says as she sits up, her vision still blurry from waking up. She stretches her arms out and lets out a loud yawn. “I swear I spend more money on Alarm clocks than I do anything else.” 

Finally Three climbs out of bed, leaving the horrifying remains of what used to be her alarm clock sitting on her bedside table. She could deal with it later, there was a mission today. Cap’n Cuttlefish had found some information about something called the “Kamabo institute” or was it “Corporation”? Whatever it was, Three didn’t care. All she knew was, Cap’n had a lead on something dangerous, and she wasn’t gonna sit idly by and let it consume the world.

After a brief shower, mostly to wake up, Three donned her agent outfit and headed towards the meeting place Cap’n had sent to her. Callie and Marie had offered to update her Hero uniform, they had a new jacket design with the reflectors built into it instead of wearing a vest overtop, but truth be told, Agent 3 liked the old duds. Sure, they weren’t as “Fresh” but Agent 3 liked them all the same. But those new headphones did tempt her, they looked like they were designed to fit more snuggly against the wearers head, making it less likely for them to fall off. But Three decided to just keep the old look, it’s how she defeated DJ Octavio and the Octobot King after all.

“Ah Agent 3! Good to see you again!” The Captain’s cheerful voice rings like music to her ears.

“Hello Captain” She lets out a smile. “Good to see you again as well.”

“Yes, if only it were under better circumstances” The Captain sighs.

“Hey, we’re the New Squidbeak Splatoon, dire situations are like, stopping for coffee for us right?”

That gets the old Captain to chuckle a little.

“Alright alright, well we mustn’t waste any time, I’ve not been able to find out MUCH about Kamabo, but we’re heading in to see if the intel I do have is correct.”

Agent 3 nods. “Yeah from what you told me, re-animated Octarians and Octolings, not a good look. Hopefully we can put a stop to it.”

The captain taps a metal grate with his cane “Right here is where I believe our best entrance is, it’s right on the border between Octarian territory and Kamabo’s, there should be a way through to the Kamabo side through here.”

Agent 3 nods, readies her Hero Shot, and signals for Captain to open the grate. He flips it open with a loud CLANG, then Agent 3 and him jump in.

\--

Agent 3 didn’t know entirely what to expect, but after finding out that Marina of Off the Hook (yes 3 liked them, but she’d never tell a soul) was freed from DJ Octavio’s mind control using the Squid Sisters “Calamari Inkantation”, 3 always kept it ready to play should a mission get too hairy.

What Agent 3 didn’t expect was for it to go sideways due to a single Octoling.

The Octoling was FAST, Three would’ve assumed special ops, if she wasn’t busy trying to not die. How was this Octoling so good? And she only had an Octoshot! It’s like, a glorified Splattershot at best, Agent 3’s Hero Shot was, for lack of a better term, superior.

And here 3 was, nearly covered in Octoling ink, it stung like a motherfucker, but 3 didn’t stop fighting. The Octoling was covering terf, making pathways to move, so 3 had to do the same.

Three shot out from behind the box that had made her temporary cover, rolling out a quick bomb shooting her ink across the floor, and submerging to move quickly through it. The bomb had distracted the Octoling, but not for long as she turned to face 3, firing her Octoshot immediately. Three rolled into a backflip to get away from the shots, glancing over to Captain Cuttlefish, who was waiting with other weapons, and subweapons. Then Three got a glorious idea. 

She launched into a small superjump, returning to her humanoid state and tossing her phone at the Captain.  
“Captain! Calamari Inkantation!”

The Captain nodded, whipped out the set of speakers that Three had insisted on bringing, and blasts the song at full volume.

Now the Octoling was stunned, and here was her chance. She moved as fast as she could, sliding right next to the Octoling, aiming her hero shot directly at her head. But just before she could pull the trigger and Splat her assailant, something else came in, something that made Agent 3’s ink curdle.

The ink that began to flood the area was… revolting. It didn’t look or feel natural. It made Agent 3, the stoic, never failing, always badass Agent, nearly vomit on the spot. It acted somewhat like ink but the smell was horrid, and it had this faint glow like it was almost alive. Fortunately it seemed there wasn’t enough to splat her and she was able to ink the ground around her so she would be safe from it.

Then she turned, and the Octoling was gone, and worse yet, so was the Captain.

“Fuck” she said, trying to find out what happened. Then her shoe clacks against something on the ground, she looks down to inspect what she hit. It looked like a… pair of sunglasses?

Wait, that’s what all the Octolings 3 has ever fought were always wearing, could that be how DJ Octavio kept control of his army? Well at least the Octolings, the Octarians seemed pretty content to just fire at any Inkling who got near without those shades.

Agent 3 sighed, maybe there was hope for that Octoling, and maybe hope for the Captain as well.

\--

The more Agent 3 found out about Kamabo, the more Agent 3 wished she hadn’t woken up that day. 

She had, however, somehow managed to steal a bit of their tech. It was advanced, made almost no sense, and yet was stupidly easy to use. Agent 3 was able to use her, what was it called? CQ-80 to find her way around the entire facility.

But one thing 3 absolutely hated, was every single enemy she faced. They all looked like they were sapped of any life except their knowledge of fighting. Any Octoling she came across looked nearly lifeless, kind of like how 3 would look if she stayed up all night instead of sleeping, but multiplied by like, six years.

3 had found out, thanks to the CQ-80 she stole, that everything here had been “Sanitized” - Cleansed of free will, and made to live a life of nothing but slavery. 3 assumed that these Octolings were well beyond even the help of the Calamari Inkantation, magic a song as it may be, the Octolings under DJ Octavio were merely brainwashed, not… cleansed.

Agent 3 didn’t know how long she was there, but she was beginning to worry as she’d heard nothing from the Captain, and it felt like it had been days, maybe weeks, maybe months. Agent 3 had all but lost track of time, never getting more than a few moments to rest before needing to keep moving, there were patrols everywhere.

Then, a glimmer of hope, and a slight cause for concern. Her CQ-80 lit up with a distress signal! And she wasn’t far!

Agent 3 hoped she had time, she slid down the nearest ledge, and towards the source of the signal, man it was down FAR. Agent 3 didn’t see much, but she did see the Captain, he was with another figure she couldn’t make out at the speed she was going, but what she could make out wa- JESUS FUCK IS THAT A GIANT ASS BLENDER?

She didn’t even bother trying to slow down, all she did was angle herself towards it before she reached the end of the slope she was sliding down, and now she was free-falling towards a glass pane that was between her and the blender. Maybe at this speed she could knock it over and save the Captain, gods know Callie and Marie would never speak to her again if she let their grandfather turn into a smoothie.

Well it worked, but the last thing Agent 3 saw was a telephone swinging at her face, and then black.

She didn’t know what happened next.

When next Agent 3 was conscious, she couldn’t see anything, her body felt like it was moving against her will, and there was a searing pain across her face. She wanted to do nothing else but scream. Gods it felt like her face was on fire, but worse.

Then suddenly, the pain was gone, Agent 3 could see the vague figure of someone but their body just shut down, Three was surprised the pain didn’t cause her to just have a heart attack and die.

When Agent 3 woke again, her first thought was “Wow it’s windy”  
Her next thought was “Oh hey there’s an Octoling looking at me, kinda cute when they’re not trying to kill me.”  
And then her thought was “Agent 3 what the fuck is wrong with you”

Then the Octoling smiled at her.

Agent 3 couldn’t help but blush a little. What had once been her adversary was now… standing next to her, smiling at her, and… oh my gods her eyes are beautiful.

“Ah Agent 3!” The Captain beconned her. “Welcome back!”

Agent 3 smiled up at the old man. “Hey Cap’n, what happened? My head hurts, and… is that a statue covered in ink?”

“It’s a long story, but to make it short, this here Octoling just saved the world. Agent 3, I’d like you to officially meet Agent 8 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.”

Agent 3 looks over at Agent 8, while 3 did have some apprehensions about letting an Octoling into the agency, if they saved the world then that made her alright in 3’s eyes. 

Speaking of eyes.

“F-fuck, what’s wrong with my eye? It hurts like hell and I can barely see out of it!”

“Oh dear, I was afraid of that. You had a bit of that nasty goop on your face, made you attack poor Agent 8 over there! I’m glad she was able to shoot it off you!”

Agent 3’s pupils shrink.

“Th-the ink… I-I was sanitized?”

“Get some rest Agent 3, the mission is over for now. I’ll call you up should anything happen”

Agent 3 did not get any rest.


	2. Well this is horrible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three deals with the aftermath of Kamabo, and the physical and emotional scars it left her with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that if you want to get notified when new chapters go up, to follow angstgent-24.tumblr.com

Agent 3 hadn’t had a decent sleep since before Kamabo.

Any time she tried to lay down, her memory flashed with scenes of what she went through. Every waking moment spent just trying to survive. The patrols that were merciless. Every single time she tried to sleep, her dreams were filled with nightmares of how she could have failed even worse than she felt she already had. 

Three spent many hours quietly sobbing on her bed, wishing everything would just go away so she could sleep. Her eyes had bags under them and she hasn’t changed out of her PJ’s since she returned home. Three struggled to eat, not trusting herself with any of her pots or pans. She outright threw her blender out her window in a fit of rage, however that was unrelated to her hunger.

Every time she looked in the mirror, she was reminded of how she had failed. How she nearly caused the destruction of the world, and worst of all, her friends. She had a nasty blue-green scar right across her face and around her right eye. It was disgusting. It had changed her right eye to a similar blue-green and she could swear it still had a faint glow to it. Her scar was most visible across her face, but a small part of it was also on her right tentacle, the part that wasn’t protected by her Hero Headset. But worst of all, the scar still hurt. It would flare up at random, feeling like a hot iron was being slammed into her face.

She would be fine and then suddenly she’d be screaming in agony as the scar flared up, it hurt like hell and Three could do nothing else but cry and scream any time it flared. She’d claw at her eye in desperate attempts to make it stop, but it only made the pain worse. Any time it flared up, she would opt to just curl into a ball, scream, and let her tears flow down her face. The pain was unbearable and she could do nothing else but wait it out any time an attack came on.

Any time she thought she was about to finally get a decent sleep, the searing pain would return. But every time it did, she was almost grateful. She deserved this, she FAILED. Or so she would tell herself. Say nothing of almost splatting Captain Cuttlefish and Agent 8, she had failed to protect herself. She let herself get infected with that disgusting sanitization ink. Every moment Three spent awake, she reminded herself that she had to be BETTER.

She couldn’t let herself fail again.

She had too much to lose.

Over the next 14 days following the events of Kamabo, Three would repeat this process day in and day out. She was able to get 3 hours of sleep a night if she was lucky, and those 3 hours were often marred with horrible nightmares, visions of everything she went through while just trying to survive. Sometimes, she even had nightmares of failing to reach the blender in time, or of being completely sanitized and never able to be free again. Nightmares that scarred her almost as bad as the mark across her face.

Right now however, Three had a rare dry spell, her face didn’t hurt and her mind was relatively clear, but the one thing she felt at this moment, was loneliness. Sure she wished her scar would stop acting up, or that her nightmares would leave her alone. But what Three desperately wanted more than anything, in this very moment, was a hug from one of her friends.

As if being summoned by her grief, Three’s phone lit up and a loud “DING” can be heard, signifying she’s received a message. Three quickly grabs at her phone that she had left sitting on her bedside table and sees who messaged her.

“Marie!” Three says quietly, whilst silently celebrating. She quickly wipes her face of any stray tears, takes a few deep breaths, then unlocks her phone ands navigates to her messages.

Three can’t help but smile as she’s reminded of the old days when she sees the profile photo she set for Marie, it was of her and Callie drawing a mustache on her while she was asleep. Oh, that was a good time, until she woke up and got her charger that is. Eh it was still a good time because afterwards they were all laughing about it. Three shrugged off her nostalgia for the time being, and actually opened the message Marie had sent her.

\--

Marie: “Yo 3, it’s been a hot minute. Gramps said you needed some rest after your last mission so we let you be for a few days, but we miss you! Come on down to Octo Canyon when you get the chance, we’ll be here all day!”

Agent 3: “Hey that sounds like it’d do me some good! I’ve been missing you guys too. Lemme just have a quick shower then I’ll head over, I smell like yesterday's lunch”

Marie: “When don’t you Agent 3?”

\--

Three rolled her eyes, got up from her bed, and made her way to her bathroom.

She let out a deep sigh, entered the room, and flicked on the light. Once again, just like every time she entered her bathroom, staring back at her from her mirror was the one thing she hated. Herself.

She use to love her scars. They’d tell stories of an Inkling who was dangerous, not afraid to take risks. She had scars from her earlier battles that had all but faded, and scars from more recent battles that were fresh and calloused. But one scar, the aqua coloured marking across her face, was different. It said nothing other than “Failure”, and she hated being reminded of her shortcomings.

She stood looking at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, examining every inch of her own body. She had scars all down her arms from her missions, as well as on her legs. No doubt she’d see scars across her chest and back as well were those parts of her not hidden by her shirt. And finally, there was a small birthmark just under her chin, it was barely noticeable, but if you knew it was there it was nigh impossible to miss. It didn’t have much shape, but if you squinted a little bit, it sort of looked like an Inkling in squid form.

Three took in a deep breath, turned away from the mirror, and towards her shower. She slowly slipped off her shirt, kicking it to the side so it wouldn’t be in the way when she got out, and then slowly slid off her shorts as well before stepping into the shower and turning on the water. She took a moment to just enjoy being under the deluge of water, allowing it to mist over her body. She could practically feel her muscles relax as the water slowly got hotter until it was the perfect temperature. Finally, she sighed and got to the act of making herself not smell anymore.

Contrary to what Marie would have you believe, Agent 3 did, in fact, own soap. It was nearly 6 months old and had only been used once but that’s beside the point, Agent 3 does own soap. And Three decided now was as good a time as any to use it again. She puts some on her hands and gets to work making her body smell like flowers or whatever the scent of the soap she bought ages ago smelled like. She doesn’t take too much care as she does however, she doesn’t want to seem like she put TOO much effort into herself. Not that she ever did.

She spent a long time in the shower, but only about an eighth of it was actually washing herself. The rest was spent trying racking her brain, trying to figure out how she could have done better. How she could have saved them without risking their lives. Or without nearly killing them herself.

Maybe if she had aimed lower on the blender the Phone wouldn’t have hit her (Which Captain Cuttlefish had explained was the reason for the whole existence of Kamabo).  
Or maybe if she had kept closer to the Captain she wouldn’t have lost him at all. Maybe she could’ve helped him and Eight escape without whatever lead up to them being trapped in a blender. Maybe she could’ve gotten to know her instead of getting brainwashed and trying to kill her.

Agent 3 didn’t know what she could’ve done for sure, but she knows that what she had done lead to failure. She’d gotten her mind taken over, and before that she’d allowed herself to be separated from the Cap’n. She wasn’t sure which injustice she was more upset at herself with, primarily because her being brainwashed had lead to his, and Eight’s, lives being in mortal jeopardy. Which by extension, apparently, meant the entire world was on the line. Talk about high stakes.

Deciding to give up on trying to go back in time and fix everything, She steps out of the shower. Grabbing a towel three goes about the process of drying herself off. She starts with her tentacles on the top of her head, making sure to be gentle on the damaged area on her right side as well as around her suction cups. She then dries off her torso, back, and arms. Being much less careful than she was with her tentacles, opting for a more ‘get dry quick scheme’. Finally she dries off her legs and her feet, so she won’t track water onto the carpet in her bedroom. She hangs the towel back on the rack so it can dry, and returns to her bedroom to get dressed.

She hadn’t touched her Hero outfit since the incident, but she figured if she was going to Octo Canyon, she may as well be ready for anything. She carefully slides on some underwear before grabbing her shorts and putting them on. She then slides on a pair of ankle socks, making sure they don’t get bunched up. She then slips her arms through her undershirt of choice, a simple tank top. Finally she puts on her jacket and zips it up, then puts the safety vest on overtop. Once her jacket and vest are securely in place, she grabs her cape and attaches it to the collar of her jacket so it’s secure.

She reaches for her hero headset before realizing it hasn’t been repaired yet. The goop that had taken over her mind had done a number on them and she’d need a replacement set, or maybe these ones could be fixed. Three decides to bring them along, worst case they end up in the trash. On her way out she stops by her door to slide on her hero shoes, tightening them down so they’re snug. Once she’s satisfied that they won’t come flying off if she takes a step slightly too fast, she grabs her keys and heads out her door.

Locking up her apartment behind her, Agent 3 makes her way towards the roof of the building, pushing her way through the door at the top of the stairwell. There’s a one foot tall ledge around the entire roof, making it less likely for Inklings or Octolings to fall off by accident. The roof itself is mostly solid concrete, not very nice to walk on for long periods of time, but it’s held up for all the years Three has lived there. But there was a reason she came up here, and upon spotting the launchpad she walks over to it, quickly puts “Inkopolis Square” into the keypad, and hits enter.

The launchpad stops for a second, then changes to her natural ink colour of Orange and flashes twice, indicating it’s ready for launch. Three takes in a deep breath, slips into squid form, then swims into the middle of the launchpad. Within a few short seconds, she’s sent rocketing through the air at blistering speeds.

Agent 3 was glad the superjumps were quick, she didn’t need more time lost in her own thoughts. But for the few moments she spends flying through the air, she’s able to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the cool late afternoon air. She allows herself this one moment of bliss, refusing to let her mind wander anywhere but the feeling of freedom she has as the wind rushes past.

After a few short seconds, Three lands in Inkopolis. She took a quick look around for the entrance to Octo Canyon, and sure enough she spotted it right next to AmmoKnights. It was disguised as a sewer grate, so no one who didn’t know what it was would ever think to swim through it. And anyone who DID swim through it, for example, Three in a few short moments, was shrugged off as some adventure seeking fool. Which, to be fair, she kinda was.

Three walks over to the grate, takes a glance to the sides just to make sure no one is watching her too intently, and finally jumps in. When she emerges on the other side, she’s greeted by some familiar faces which, for the first time in 14 days, brings a warm smile to Agent 3’s face.

Callie is the first to notice, as she would, she’s wearing her agent uniform but without the safety vest and without the shades either. That’s strange, Callie was ALWAYS trying to find a fresh new pair of shades. She once spent an entire day just looking at one sunglasses stand!

“THREEEEEEEEEEEE!” Callie squeals whilst running towards Three “IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIIINNN!!!”

“Ack!” Three yelps as callie knocks her to the ground in the single most aggressive hug Three has ever experienced. And that’s saying something, because tackling was basically the ONLY way Callie would hug someone.

“Hey three! Good to see you!” Marie calls, waving whilst not assaulting her like Callie had, opting to instead more casually walk over to where Three is. Marie has on her Kimono, with her umbrella tucked neatly under her arm, the look on her face is one of relief, and a little bit of amusement.

Then Agent 3 spots… her. 

The Octoling that had somehow beaten her in single combat, then went on to save the entire world from a psychotic telephone, all whilst wearing HEELS? Colour 3 impressed, she could hardly walk in the damn things.

“Callie, you know I love you, but I need to breathe!” Three squawks, clearly distressed from being knocked to the ground.

“OOPS! Sorry three! I’m just so excited to see you again!” Callie blushes and climbs off of Three, offering her arm to help Three stand back up.

“Geez callie you say that like it’s been years!” Three chuckles, as she takes Callie’s arm and hoists herself up, not realizing the truth in her own statement.

Without hesitation, Marie simply states. “It has”

What

“Y-years? H-how long…”

“Well, a little under 2 years to be exact” Marie states matter-of-factly. 

What Marie hadn’t expected, was Three’s expression to change from playful banter to horrified remorse. Three’s eyes went wide as her brain re-played every moment she could remember. Every single sanitized octarian, every single time that she thought she’d found a safe place to rest, only to be found again and have to keep running. 

“Oh my gods, oh I am so sorry.” Three’s breaths are shallow and shaky, her hearts unstable and her eyes showing the first signs of tearing up.

“Hey,” Callie called “Why are you sorry? You kept Gramps safe, and you even helped recruit an Octoling! You did good Three.”

“T-two years.” Three falls to her knees, her fists pressed against her forehead as she struggles to maintain her composure. “The days just all merged together down there, I don- I can’t remember how many days I spent just trying to find him. How many days I spent just trying to survive… I-I’m so sorry, I failed.”

Having clearly had enough, Marie kneels down next to Three, and rests her hand on her shoulder. “You did not fail, your quick thinking in the heat of battle lead to another freed Octoling. Agent 8 over there was the Octoling you were battling before you and gramps got seperated, you thought to use our song, and that freed her. She then went on to save all of us thanks to that. You are a HERO Agent 3.”

“But I’m not. I nearly let them get killed, not splatted, killed. And then as if to mock my inability to be better, I get sanitized and nearly kill them myself!” Tears start to stream down her face, her entire form shaking as she succumbs to her emotions.

“I-I hate myself. I failed. And this disgusting scar across my face is the FUCKING PROOF!” More tears roll down Agent 3’s face, Neither Callie, nor Marie, know how to respond, having never seen Three even remotely this emotional before.

Agent 8, however, calmly walks over, kneels down to be next to Agent 3, places her own hand on Three’s shoulder, and looks her dead in the eyes and says:   
“You saved me, and it was a privilege to do the same for you. Don’t you dare call yourself a failure, when you’re the only reason I’m even standing here right now and not back in his army.”

Agent 3 is able to regain some of her composure, sniffling and feeling her hearts flutter slightly. This time, though, her emotions are swinging towards the positive. Once again, just like the first time she had seen the Octoling smiling at her, Three finds herself blushing, the Octoling kneeling so close to her, she can see her face perfectly, her eyes like the stars, mysterious, and beautiful.

“Y-your eyes are be-” But Agent 3 is cut off by the return of the searing pain across her scar.

Agent 3 quickly clutches at her face and lets out a blood curdling scream, the pain just as real as it was when she was being controlled. She screamed louder, begging someone, anyone, to make the pain stop.

No one could.


	3. Emotions are dumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three is now stuck with her friends knowing her emotional trauma, she has to find a way to cope with both her emotional issues as well as her friends knowing about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I would like to remind you of the existence of the official Tumblr for this story, Angstgent-24.tumblr.com - I answer questions about the story there!

Agent 3 couldn’t believe herself. She had let her guard down and had a fucking breakdown in front of her friends! She hated the fact that she had cried, the fact that she had  _ shown weakness. _

Agent 3 vowed it would never happen again. She couldn’t handle being weak, she had to be stronger. She had to be better. 

Aside from the whole “doubling over in excruciating pain” and “having an emotional breakdown” however, the meetup actually went pretty well. Callie and Marie both insisted Three go see a therapist, something about needing to work through her trauma with someone trained to handle it. 

The only reason Three agreed was because it might help prevent another breakdown, which was her end goal anyways, and she was willing to do just about anything to get there.

Apparently Agent 8 had been going to one as well, Agent 3 had to ask why because she had literally no idea what Eight went through. Upon finding out, Three was even MORE disgusted with Kamabo. The whole test facility? And not to mention the fact that if they gathered the “thangs” (it annoyed her to no end that it was spelled with an “A”) it assembled a giant blender that melted the test subject down and then mixed their essence into that awful goop.

So yeah Agent 8 had some shit to work through too.

Agent 3 had also gone to a regular doctor to see if anything could be done about her scar, or at least about the pain it caused. She didn’t really have much hope, it was caused by some freak of science and the best she could really hope for was maybe some painkillers to keep from being unable to function when an attack flared up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything they could do for her. She just had to suffer through the pain.

Part of her wondered if it was partially psychological, the pain was way too similar to when the sanitization goop was actually on her face. But then again, it had seeped in past the skin layer.

What if it was still trying to take control of her?

Agent 3 shrugged that thought off as quickly as it came in. No way in HELL was she letting it take over her again. Her friends meant too much to her to let it happen again. She would sooner splat herself with all spawn points out than let herself be someone’s puppet again.

Now Agent 3 was just laying on her bed, her shirt long since discarded but her pants were still on for whatever reason. She stared up at the ceiling and her mind kept jumping from thought to thought. Sometimes she’d think about back when she saved the Great Zapfish from Octavio. Sometimes her mind would wander into the events that lead her to Kamabo. Sometimes, all she could think about was Kamabo. Three let out a loud sigh. 

“This fucking sucks.” She took in a deep breath, then glanced over to her bedside table. “and I still need to buy a new alarm clock”

Her thoughts didn’t linger on her current Alarm Clock situation for very long. Her first visit with the Therapist had gone… well she didn’t throw him nor herself out the window so it’s a start. He’d given her some advice, whenever she finds herself starting to fall into another depressive episode, focus on the good memories you can find in your mind. She was told it may not prevent the depressive episode, but would at least soften the blow a little.

And here she was, slipping into a depressive episode again.

Agent 3 tried to focus on the good memories she has, but her mind kept wandering back to Kamabo. Always Kamabo. So instead she tried to at least focus on remembering the least-terrible parts of Kamabo.

Their tech was cool, could probably be incorporated into the NSBS pretty well if they put the effort in. She’d gotten to meet Off the Hook properly, instead of just an interrogation like the first time she’d met Marina. (Long story, but as effectively a public figure who used to be part of Octavio’s army, questions needed to be asked). Pearl was nice, her voice was destroyed but she was nice. Marina held no ill-will towards Three for the whole interrogation which she was grateful for. Marina understood why it had to be done, sure, but Three had maybe been a bit… intense during it. So to actually talk to her like a PERSON rather than barrage her with questions like a war prisoner was nice.

And then there was the new girl, Agent 8. Gods thinking about her always made Three a little flustered. And she hardly knew the damn girl! To be fair, Eight hardly knew anything about herself either. Amnesia’s a hell of a drug. Three had considered getting to know Eight a little better, finding out what she liked, maybe going to see like, a movie or something. But every time she tried to muster up the courage to talk to her, even over text, she could never bring herself to hit “send”

To distract herself, Three decided to whip out her phone and try texting Eight again. She opened up her messages app, and tried thinking of a good opening line. Everything was wrong. Nothing was good enough. Hello was too formal, hey was too casual. ‘Sup made her sound like some kind of surfer dude. Three racked her brain, trying to come up with some way to just say “Hi” without being laden with anxiety.

“Gods why is this so DIFFICULT!” She locked her phone and tossed it to the side of the bed she wasn’t laying on. “I hardly know her! Asking her to go get coffee should be EASY!” 

She rolled over onto her side, it was maybe 4:30pm at the latest. She felt her face warming as she thought about the Octoling that had previously tried to kill her, and then went on to save the world. How her face was beautifully rounded, her ears too came to a rounded end instead of a point like the Inklings. Her tentacles were tucked neatly into a ponytail at the back of her head, and two smaller ones flanked the front of her face. And then there was her smile, dear gods that smile was infectious. Even just thinking about it made Three’s own face go from a stubborn frown to a gentle grin.

However, she wasn’t able to stew with her thoughts for very long as her phone lit up and made a nice loud “DING” indicating someone had messaged her. Agent 3 let out a sigh, reached over to her phone, and decided to see who it was and what they wanted.

“Oh it’s Marie again, I wonder what she wants now.”

\--

Marie: Hey 3! I know it’s only been like, three days since that whole fiasco but I thought I’d check in. You’ve been kinda quiet and we’re worried about you. Callie wanted to bake you a cake to try and cheer you up but I think she set our oven on fire… again.

That made her chuckle a little bit, oh Callie, never change.

Agent 3: All things considered I’m fine I guess, saw the therapist yesterday like you told me to, he seems nice. Also tell Callie I appreciate the thought. 

Marie: Well that’s good to hear. Oh, last time you were here we never got the chance to introduce you to Agent 4! You’ll like her, she’s a lot like you. Except she owns soap ;)

Agent 3: Haha fuck you Marie, I DO own soap. But yeah I was meaning to ask what the big crack in Octavio’s snowglobe was about, I assume that’s what lead to the recruitment of a new agent?

Marie: Yeah, also Callie being kidnapped, and the great zapfish… again.

Three had to take a pause, the Great Zapfish was stolen, AGAIN? She steps away for 2 years and the whole world goes to shit.

Agent 3: Wow, well she must be pretty skilled if she stopped Octavio, we both know he would’ve upped his game since his fight with me, so props to her.

Marie: That’s the best part, HE DIDN’T! He used the SAME strategy! The damn thing even still had fists!

Now Agent 3 was chuckling to herself. Octavio, the brilliant military leader… re-used a failed strategy.

Agent 3: Wow, W O W, wow. I can’t, he seriously did the same thing a second time. 

Marie: Yeah, but now that you and gramps are back, he’s taking care of looking after Octavio, so Callie, 4, and I are all kinda stuck with too much time.

Agent 3: You and Callie are international celebrities and you have nothing to do? Can’t you just like, go out and fuck some fans knowing no one will ever believe them?   
  
Marie: AGENT THREE I AM APPALLED! 

Agent 3: … Callie did it tho.

Marie: Callie di- hold on, I’m gonna be cousinless in about five seconds.

Agent 3: Oh fuck, she fucked now. 

Agent 3:  <strike>It was totally with me tho</strike>

Marie: I swear to god 3, if you aren’t joking I am going to come over there and rip your head off its shoulders right after I’m done ripping Callie’s off hers.

Agent 3: Do it, give me the sweet embrace of death. Besides how would you even know where I live? I never showed you.

\--

Agent 3 chuckled to herself. Oh Marie, you’re too easy to get a rise out of. Agent 3 then decided that while her bed was comfortable, her stomach screaming about not having food was not. She’d have to tease her friends later.

She made her way out of her bedroom, snagging her discarded shirt and putting it back on, and enters her kitchen. The kitchen was by no means massive, however for just her, it did seem fairly big. Several drawers were left almost empty, and several cupboards actually WERE empty, but she was never short on food. She just didn’t need as much space as she had. One of the perks of the Squid Sisters being part of the agency, their agents were never going to want for basic needs. 

Agent 3 sighed to herself, did she want a proper meal, or did she want to make food that she’d throw in her microwave for 2 minutes that might give her cancer. She figured cancer couldn’t be worse than what was going on with her face, so she opted for the microwave food. Okay, the real reason was because she was tired and didn’t trust herself with a frying pan because of how tired she was. 

Three grabs some frozen pizza snacks out of her freezer, removes the plastic, then throws them on a plate and into the microwave. 

“Fuckin hell my life is a mess.” she laughed to herself. “What am I gonna do when I run out of these frozen pizza things? I’m gonna starve that’s what.”   
  
The microwave beeps aggressively, she pulls the food out, using a cloth between her hand and the plate cuz microwaves loved to make plates hotter than the food on them, and sets the plate down on the table. Once Agent 3 has the Microwave door closed back up, she sits down in front of her meal and sighs to herself.

“These damn things are gonna become a genuine part of me at this point, I’m gonna be like 20% frozen pizza snack” she rolls her eyes at herself before eating her meal, if you can even call it a meal.

Once she’s done, she takes the plate over to the sink and rinses it off, then places the plate on the bottom rack of her dishwasher. Just then, Agent 3 heard a knock on her door.

“That’s odd, no one buzzed in, and I’m not expecting anyone.”   
  
She walks over to her door, looked through the peephole, and saw the single most terrifying thing she has ever seen in her life.

Marie, standing there, smiling.

“Oh fuck, now it’s MY turn to be dead” She said quietly to herself.

Agent 3 kept the chain on the door as she slowly opened it.   
  
“Hello?”   
  
“Hi Agent 3? Can we uh, chat for a minute?”   
  
Three audibly gulped, but reluctantly, she closed the door, unhooked the chain, and then allowed Marie into her apartment.

Marie walked in, placed her hand firmly on Agent 3’s shoulder, then sucker punched her right in the gut.

Agent 3 collapsed onto the floor coughing, the wind knocked right out of her. It takes her a few moments to get her barrings back, but once she has a moment to breathe again, she takes in a few deep breaths to restore oxygen to her entire body.   
  
“Ah fuck, thank god I don’t have bones or you’d have broken a rib!” Agent 3 slowly sat up on the floor, and looked up at Marie, who looked like she was readying for another blow. Three threw her hands up in protest. “Okay! Okay, I probably deserved that one, I take it you reamed out Callie already?”   
  
“Seriously? You two… and you NEVER told me?!”

Agent 3 lets out a nervous laugh and rubs her neck “Well it’s not exactly something you bring up in a normal chat!”

Marie rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe you.” she sighed.

“Hey! I was young and stupid, and Callie was, and still is, fuckin hot as hell.”

Marie shot her a look that made Agent 3’s mouth seal right up.

  
“Callie wouldn’t tell me WHY you two did… that. So now I have to ask you. And I WILL know if you’re lying, I know you incredibly well Agent 3.”   
  
“Okay okay, but can we sit on my couch at least? The floor isn’t exactly nice to sit on.”   
  
“Fine, but don’t waste any more time.”   
  
Once they’re seated across from eachother, Agent 3 takes in a deep breath, then looks Marie dead in the eyes.   
  
“So, here’s the long and the short of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like now is the best time to state the ages of my Agents, given the things that went on between Callie and 3 - Agent 3 is 21 as of the start of Chapter 2 (she's 19 before Kamabo) - Agent 8 is 19 - Agent 4 is 18 - Callie is 23 - Marie is 22


	4. Finally some answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie finally gets the answers to the questions she has for Three, she's just not quite prepared for just what those answers are.

Marie couldn’t believe what she was hearing, primarily how DETAILED Agent 3’s description of the events were. Like, she knew her memory was good, that’s what lead her to being such a good field agent, but goddamn.

“-yeah so that’s what went down.” Three awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, her face practically bright orange from having recalled the events that transpired between her and Callie such a long time ago.

Marie looked at Agent 3 through her blush, and had to pause for a moment to compose herself. She takes in a deep breath and tries to calm herself, though the green tint doesn’t completely leave her face, it does fade slightly.

“Alright alright, you’ve answered pretty much all of my questions… but you still didn’t answer the first question, WHY did you two… get it on.”

Agent 3’s blush deepened “Well… to be honest, after I rescued the Great Zapfish from Octavio, and Cap’n Cuttlefish informed me that the events had to be kept secret, Callie felt bad that I did all that work for effectively nothing… so she made the offer. Me being the young horny dumbass I was, agreed without thinking.”

Marie paused, and started stroking her chin as she considered the information that had just been presented to her.

“So she did that as a reward for saving Inkopolis? Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“Oh nothing, I just… I don’t know I guess I didn’t expect that to be her take. I’d have expected her to give you VIP tickets to one of our concerts, maybe like, a great big sum of money… or something along those lines.” Marie shrugged as she finally was able to get herself composed, no longer blushing as her thoughts had moved past the events that Three had begrudgingly but so accurately described for her.

“She tried after, but I told her she’d done more than enough. Honestly a lot of what I know about myself now came from that… event.” Three’s blush was mostly under control, however there was still a slight tint of orange on her cheeks.

“So you’ve said, man I didn’t know she was into half of those things.” Marie prattled idly.

“... why would that matter to you? Her cousin?” Three’s eyebrow raised slightly in suspicion.

“Ah, sorry, that’s my secret agent side kicking in, I like to know as much as I can about anyone I’m close to, so should they turn against me, I know their weaknesses, and should they need my help, I know where to support.” Marie again shrugged as she gave her explanation, her mind now trying to find the right way to end the conversation.

“Hmm, I guess that sorta makes sense. I’m not gonna ask how sexual support would work though.” Three smirks and winks at Marie eliciting an eye roll and a scoff from the pop star secret agent.

“Oh my GOD 3 you are terrible.” Marie chuckled slightly as she stood up from the couch, believing the conversation to be winding to a close.

“Says the one who walked into my apartment and immediately assaulted me.”

Marie opens her mouth to protest, but finds no words of protest exist for such a comeback.

“Fine, you win, dumbass.” Marie smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Be nice Marie, you know I’m only playing cuz you’re my friend. If I didn’t like you I’d have either splatted you for showing up unannounced or ripped your arms off!” Three chuckles to herself slightly.

“HAH, I’d like to see you try.” Marie retorts, gesturing to the charger she had left by the front door of Three’s apartment.

“Eh, some other time maybe. I need to get to bed soon.” Three idly gestures towards her bedroom, not even glancing at the clock, or the fact that there was still sun bleeding in through her windows.

“Bed? But it’s only 5pm!” Marie scoffed, shocked at how early Three said she’d be going to bed. 

“Yep, with the way this-” Agent 3 points to the scar across her face “likes to flare up, I’m lucky if I get 3 hours of sleep a night, so I’ve started going to bed earlier to counteract it.”

Marie was now faced with the fact that her friend whom she cares deeply about has a condition that makes it so difficult to sleep that she’s going to bed around the time she’d be making dinner. She was also faced with the fact that Three lives with the debilitating pain that makes it so she can’t do anything but scream… and she had just waltzed into her apartment and sucker punched her for an event that happened nearly three years ago.

“Oh my gods Three, I am so sorry. I had no idea…” Marie’s expression dropped and there was deep remorse in her eyes. She would undo everything that had just happened if she could, but she’s dug her own grave now.

“Eh, don’t be. It’s my life now, I gotta deal with it.” Three shrugs, clearly something is still bothering her but she’s not saying.

Marie just frowned.

“That’s not good Three. You should seriously get help for that if it’s causing you so much pain.”

Agent 3 let out a defeated sigh. “I tried, no one can help. The doctor’s don’t know what’s going on so they can’t prescribe anything. I’m on my own. Just like Kamabo. Just like always. It’s me against the universe, and the universe bit back hard with this one.”

“Okay well… please remember that if you need anything, Callie and I are here.” Marie paused, placing her hand on Three’s shoulder then turning to leave.

“Just don’t ask for any… rewards.” Marie smirked before snagging her charger and finally getting ready to head out, Agent 3 rolled her eyes.

“It was one time Marie, I don’t even like Callie that way.” In a cruel twist of fate, in that exact moment Agent 3 felt her scar act up again, gods the pain was nearly unbearable. But she vowed not to break down in front of her friends again, so she resisted the urge to clutch her face, but that didn’t stop the affected eye from twitching slightly.

Marie was about to leave but she turned to face Three one last time before she did so, and all she could see was the pain in her eyes, the twitching right eye, and the tears welling within both.

“A-are you alright Three? Your eye is twitching like mad right now.” Marie set her charger back down and turning to face Three properly.

“Oh, y-yeah, the scar is a-acting up again.” Agent 3 could feel the tears starting to form, the pain searing through her face like someone decided to kick her with a boot that had red hot nails on it. “It’s f-fine, I j-just n-need to lay d-down.”

“Agent 3. Please.” Marie wanted to reach out, to comfort her friend, but she could tell that Three didn’t want that. Three wanted to be strong. Marie just wanted to help her friend.

“S-seriously, I’m g-good. Just l-leave so I can deal with this, please.” The tears are starting to roll down Three’s cheeks, she’s clenching her teeth together hard trying to bear the pain without screaming out.

Reluctantly, Marie picks up her charger again, and turns to the door. Before she passes through it however, she has one last thing she wants to say to Three. One last thing born out of the desire to help her friend, as well as the frustration of not being able to.

“Shutting us out won’t help it go away, it’ll just make it worse.”

With an audible *click* the door was closed and Marie was on the other side.

Once she can no longer see Marie, Three immediately falls to her knees, grabs the side of her face that was affected, and she screamed. She let everything out, she just wails in agony, wishing her pain would stop. Three hears her door click again but the pain makes the world go black before she can see why.

\--

The next morning, Agent 3 awoke in her bed, feeling slightly more rested than usual, as though she hadn’t been woken by agonizing pain every 3 minutes. She also feels some odd pressure on her affected eye, and finds even when opened she can’t see anything out of it, just black. Also it’s incredibly cold on that half of her face.

So. Agent 3 brings her hand up to check and finds an… ice bag?

Agent 3 didn’t know if she even owned one of these, and even if she did, she definitely didn’t put it on her face herself. so how did…

“Feeling better?” The familiar voice of her fellow agent as well as pop singer Marie called.

“H-how did you?..” Three calls in confusion, her brain still running at quarter speed due to just having woken up.

“That scream wasn’t exactly quiet, and you didn’t lock your door after I exited… also you passed out on the floor.”

“Fuck my entire life.”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Oh relax, you’re fine.”

Three couldn’t bring herself to meet Marie’s gaze. She felt embarrassed. Though she was grateful for the fact that her friend had cared enough to take care of her, she wished she hadn’t needed it.

Marie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Always the drama queen, you’ll be fine honestly. I’m going to get a sample of that… I hesitate to call it ink. The stuff they use in Kamabo. I’m going to run some tests on it, see if I can’t find something that’ll at least help the pain.”

Agent 3’s ears perked up at that, her mind flashing images of all of her friend with that disgusting ink on their faces. “Oh my gods.”

“What?”

“Do NOT let it touch you. EVER. And ESPECIALLY do not let it touch your face. If it can access your brain, it takes over. It only took a little bit for it to seize control of me.” Three’s worry is painted so plainly across her face she may as well be wearing a shirt that says “I am worried”

Marie sighed again as she stood up to leave.

“I’ll be careful, trust me.” Marie paused, she clenches her fist and chokes back a sob that goes unnoticed by Three. “I just want to be able to help my friend.”

With that, Marie left, and 3 again heard the audible *click* of her front door being closed. Marie on the other side of the door takes in a long deep breath. She takes out her phone and navigates to her messages.

\--  
Marie: It is so much worse than we thought

Callie: How so?

Marie: She tried to get me to leave when her scar started flaring just so I wouldn’t see her in pain. Also she told me it flares up so often that she’s lucky if she gets 3 hours of sleep in a night.

Callie: Oh, damn… Wow.

Marie: Yeah, anyways I’m headed home now. As much as I want to, I can’t just stay here to take care of Three forever.

Callie: You assaulted her when you first arrived didn’t you. 

Marie: I may have knocked the wind out of her yes. 

Callie: Marie… I tried to tell you to let a nearly 3 year old event lay to rest!

Marie: An event I am now intimately familiar with thanks to Three’s insane memory.

\--

Marie pocketed her phone and headed for the launchpad on the roof of Three’s apartment building. She’d have to make a mental note to visit her more often.

Agent 3 on the other hand was now, once again, alone with her thoughts. Oh how dangerous this is. She stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom with the one eye that wasn’t covered by an ice pack, and honestly she was getting tired of how embarrassed she was about the whole situation with Marie from start to finish. So, rather than lay in bed and feel sorry for herself, she decided to take a shower and feel sorry for herself.

She made her way over to her bathroom, switched on the light, and made her way over to her shower. All while still holding the ice bag to the right side of her face. She was able to glance at her reflection in the mirror without feeling like a failure for the first time in a long time. This combined with the actual ice pack was oddly soothing. But once the shower was up to temperature, she knew she’d have to set it down, it wouldn’t survive the searing heat she likes her showers at.

Reluctantly, she sets the bag down in the bathroom sink, then looks up at her reflection in the mirror once again, preparing for the worst. Huh, the greenish colouration had gone down quite a bit, the skin layer was still visibly damaged, even without the green, but it looked more like any of her other scars, rather than someone thought boiling paint was a good idea. There was still a little bit of the tint mind you, it was just dramatically reduced. Like someone had turned the opacity of the colour to 10%.

Stepping into the shower and under the (heavily treated) water, Agent 3 felt something she doesn’t think she’s felt in years. She felt relaxed. For once, her thoughts were of the good times she’d had with Callie and Marie, Cap’n’s stories of the great turf war, and how she had always seemed to make her friends smile. That one time she told a joke that was so bad she made Callie’s drink come out of her nose she laughed so hard. She felt peace, and calmness.

Then her thoughts turned to… her. Agent 8. Three hardly knew anything about the girl, hell she didn’t even know where she was living! But thinking about what she did know was something that brought a faint blush to Agent 3’s face. If there was one good thing to come out of Kamabo, it was her. 

Three kept going through ways to say hello in her head. She just wanted to get to know her, it shouldn’t be so hard. But Three knew why it was so hard. She would never admit it to anyone, she barely even admitted it to herself, but she has the biggest crush on Agent 8.

She just kept picturing her face, the different eye mask that Octolings had suited Eight’s rounded face so nicely, and her rounded ears just added to the beauty in Three’s eyes. Eight’s smile was the first thing Three saw when she came to after Kamabo, and it’s been burned into her mind ever since. That smile makes Three blush and causes her hearts to flutter.

The water started to run cold, telling Agent 3 she’d spent enough time lost in her thoughts. She sighed, shut off the water, then exited the shower, grabbing a towel to dry herself off with. 

“I-I should get to know the girl.” Agent 3 said to no one in particular. “I mean, she saved the world, so at least we have that in common?”

Three is trying to justify things to herself, but it somehow works and she’s almost finally ready to try and say hello to the girl she’s been crushing on for so long now. But she doesn’t quite have the confidence to do it, she needs moral support.

Agent 3 finished drying herself off, then, snatching her phone off its charger, she opened it up to her messages.

\--

Agent 3: Yo, you free for a sec? I got a question.

Callie: Ye what’s up? Did Marie kill you yet?

Agent 3: Yes and no, she stopped by, knocked the wind outta me, then made sure I didn’t kill myself when my scar flared up shortly after.

Callie: Yowch, now you see why I told you not to tell her!

Agent 3: It was like what, 3 years ago?! I didn’t think she’d react THAT bad!

Callie: Clearly you don’t know my cousin. Anyways, what’s up? You said you had a question.

Agent 3: Oh yeah fuck. So uh, you know Agent 8 right? Or at least know OF her?

Callie: Ye I do. 

Agent 3: Okay so… I’m only telling you this because I trust you…

Agent 3: I kinda maybe have like the worlds biggest crush on her, I think she’s cute and I wanna get to know her.

Callie: AHHHHHHHHHH! THAT’S SO ADORABLE!

Agent 3: Starting to regret this

Callie: Sorry sorry. I’m actually just really happy! But uh, why are you telling me this, and not, you know, the girl you have a crush on?

Agent 3: Because I kinda… have a hard time even asking her to go for coffee.

Callie: You WHAT

Agent 3: I just, I need some moral support. I can splat Octarians all day, but talking to someone I low key want to make out with is not something I am use to

Callie: Three. I am going to be very blunt. And only because I love you.

Callie: JUST TALK TO HER. Honestly it’s the best course of action, just talk to her and get to know her. You can do it!

Agent 3: Thanks Cal.

\--

Agent 3 should’ve known Callie would pull that on her. But still, it did give her a little boost in confidence. She takes in a deep breath and backs out of her conversation with Callie, and then flips open Eight’s contact on her phone.

Three glanced up at the blank icon for Eight’s contact, she’d have to get a photo of her so she could change it from the faceless squid silhouette.

She shook her head and brought her attention back to the task at hand of trying to talk to Eight without backing out like some sort of emotional wreck.

\--

Agent 3: Hey, Agent 8 right? Or do you have another name you’d rather be called by? It’s me, Agent 3. Sorry we got off to a poor start, I’d like to get to know you properly, you wanna like, go for coffee sometime? I’m free all day.

TheGr8Agent8: Oh, hey! Yeah my memory’s all a bit hazy, so you can just call me Eight, it’s actually grown on me. And yeah I could do Coffee.

Three couldn’t help but laugh at Eight’s chosen screen name, it was amazing and she loved it.

Agent 3: Oh sweet! What time are you free?

TheGr8Agent8: Uh, anytime really. 

Agent 3: Meet me at Inkopolis square in say, half an hour?

TheGr8Agent8: Sounds like a plan!

\--

Agent 3 couldn’t believe it. It had WORKED! Now, it wasn’t a DATE, no, it was just two people with mutual friends trying to bridge the gap. Also Agent 8 was cute as hell. Ah fuck there goes 3’s mind again.

Now there was the task at hand of making herself look presentable, and NOT like she had spent the last week in the same clothes. She went over to her dresser, threw open the drawers and tore through her wardrobe. 

“Fuck, why do I only own SHIT clothing, basic tees, lame shoes… is that a llama hat? WHY DO I OWN THIS?” Three held the aforementioned llama hat in her hand and tossed it across her room, she didn’t want to even look at it.

Finally, after a few minutes, Agent 3 had an outfit she was okay with. A light blue hoodie with an old tank top underneath that would be covered when the hoodie was zipped up, black jeans, black shoes with white laces, and to cap it off, a pair of shades. She looked… presentable.

Before leaving, she grabbed an unopened bottle of fabric odor remover, and quickly sprayed herself with it. Agent 3 let out a small chuckle to herself.

“This is the most care I’ve had about my appearance since before I became an agent.” 3 couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, enough reminiscing about the past. Let’s go.”

With that, Agent 3 pushed through her door, locking it behind her, and made her way up to the roof of her apartment building and set the launchpad to Inkopolis Square.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow finally we're getting to the point eh? Next chapter Three and Eight finally talk to eachother properly! See you all next Sunday!


	5. Things go according to plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three finally gets to spend time with Eight, events transpire.

With an affirming thud, Three lands in Inkopolis Square. She gives herself a second to make sure she’s got her balance, a luxury she didn’t have back in Octo Valley or Kamabo, and then makes her way closer to the Battle Lobby, mainly just to get away from the landing zone.

Once she’s over by Shella Fresh, she whips out her phone to check the time. Somehow, some way, she’s arrived early! About seven minutes early to be precise. Somehow she thought she’d have been late and would’ve had Eight waiting for her, which would’ve been highly embarrassing. But she got lucky, so she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Alright well maybe she’s here early too, I’ll just text her real quick.” She navigates to her messages, not wanting to be standing alone in the Square for too long. Mainly because then people might stare and she didn’t want that.

\--

Agent 3: Yo uh, I arrived a little early so whenever you get here I’ll be waiting by Shella Fresh, the shoe store nearest the battle lobby.

TheGr8Agent8: Oh! I’m almost there so I’ll see you in a sec then!

Agent 3: Cool beans

\--

“Cool beans? Really? Why did I just say that.” Agent 3 slapped her palm into her forehead. “Oh well, at least she’s almost here.”

As if on cue, the slightly familiar face of the only Octoling she’s ever actually talked to comes bounding up to her. 

“Hey! Eight!” Three waves getting her attention, and flagging her down so she doesn’t run past.

“Oh! Hi three!” She smiled. Oh gods her smile could splat an entire team twice it was so powerful. Eight was wearing an orange tee shirt with a symbol on the front that Three didn’t quite recognize, she had a baseball hat on her head with her tentacles sticking out the back of it in a ponytail, and her legs were adorned in a similar pair of jeans to Three, only they seemed slightly newer, slightly cleaner, and a shade of navy blue instead of black. Finally her feet were wrapped in red lace up shoes with white laces that looked like they provided a comfortable fit but wouldn’t be a hindrance should one need to start running for their life.

Agent 3 couldn’t help but blush a little as she admired the girl in front of her

“S-so. Coffee? I know a good place just around the corner, best iced coffee you will EVER have.” Three beams through her faint blush, she was genuinely excited about the coffee place, she’d been going there since she moved to Inkopolis.

“Iced Coffee? I thought coffee was hot.” Eight’s right eyebrow raises while her left one lowers, and her lips pursed just slightly as the look of moderate confusion on her face becomes as clear as freshly cleaned glass.

“Oh see that’s the beauty of iced coffee. It disregards the way you usually think about coffee and makes it a completely new experience!” Agent 3 beamed and Agent 8 couldn’t help but blush a little herself. Agent 3 was cute when something excited her.

“Alright, let’s go then!” Eight shrugged aside her confusion, Three was happy about it and it was a remarkable improvement from the last time she’d seen her. The scar on her face seems to be faded as well. She happily followed behind Three as she lead the two to Three’s chosen coffee shop.

The pair walk over and eight chanced a glance up to the sign as they walked in, it read “Squidbucks” Eight shook her head, Inkling culture was… so bizarre. She’d long since given up trying to understand all the nuances. Either it would just click one day, or it would be lost on her forever.

They walk inside and it’s not super busy, but there are a few people waiting in line by the till. Eight and Three quickly join the line and after waiting for a few moments, it was finally their turn to order. Three pipes up first.

“Hi, yeah, uh, I’ll just get a medium iced cap, with a shot of vanilla and an extra espresso shot.” Three’s order seemed… rehearsed. As though she’d said it a million times. Maybe she had. Eight had no idea. Then three turned to her, which caught her off guard slightly. “Yo Eight, what do you want?”

“Oh, uh… I-I guess I’ll have the same as you, but without the extra espresso shot, please.” Eight wasn’t expecting Three to order for her.

Three nodded, turned to the cashier, and informed them of eight’s decision. Eight was about to pull out some of the money Pearl had insisted she take with her, but before she even had it in her hand three pulled out some coins and paid for the pairs drinks. 

“Alright, it’ll take them a bit to make the drinks, iced coffee always takes a minute or so longer cuz they gotta blend up the ice. Let’s find somewhere to sit, they’ll call us when the drinks are ready.” Three smiles and leads them to an empty booth near the window.

Agent 8 blushes a little, but nods. She hadn’t expected three to pay for her, hell, she hadn’t expected three to be so… nice to her. The last time she saw Three in person she had fallen over in anguish and then curled up in debilitating pain. She worried that given she came out of Kamabo that she might remind Three of whatever it was she went through. Something she feared would make Three apprehensive of her. But 3 didn’t do any of those things. 

Taking their seats in the booth, eight noticed something about 3 she hadn’t noticed before. Just how beautiful she was. While her body was scarred and toned from her constant agent work, there was a subtle softness to her that almost made her glow. Sure the scar across her face wasn’t a pleasant reminder, but even still, she loved the way Three looked. She was tough, but in just the right way. 

“So, Eight. How are you adjusting to life on the surface?” Three asked plainly, clearly just making smalltalk to pass the time until their order is ready.

“OH!” eight perked up. “It’s great up here! The sun is beautiful yet also terrifying. The food is nice, certainly more flavourful than anything we had down in the domes. I like the way the sunset looks a lot.”

Three couldn’t help but blush a little and smile at eight’s enthusiasm. Something about her made Three appreciate everything she was saying, it was like her enthusiasm was rubbing off on her or something.

“So I take it things are going well? OH! Where are you living right now? I’d hope they didn’t just toss you out onto the street!” Three chuckles, mentally preparing to stab someone if they had, in fact, left her on her own.

Eight let out a small chuckle, and waves her hands in front of her “No no, I’m staying with Pearl and Marina for now. They kinda helped get me through being underground, kept me motivated, kept me going. So it would only make sense that they want to be there for me now that I am here on the surface.”

“Wait wait, you’re staying with Off the Hook, in their house? Damn, well I guess you’re like, the opposite of living on the street.” Three laughed a little again “Well it’s good to hear you have a safe place to go home to.”

The then barista walks up to the pick up counter and calls out “Order for… Tree and Exit?”

“Oh my god, EVERY TIME!” Three rolls her eyes, then gets up and goes and gets their drinks, returning shortly after. “I swear you come here every day for six years, you’d think they’d learn to say your name right.”

Eight giggled.

Three blushed.

Three cleared her throat and set a cup down in front of Eight.

“Here ya go, nice and frosty. Don’t drink it too quick, it’ll make your head hurt.” 

Eight thanks three, then takes a sip of her drink as three sits down and does the same. 

“Mmmm, it’s sweeter than I expected!” Eight calls out with a smile on her face. Three couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yeah the frozen coffee’s are generally sweeter than the non-frozen ones, if only because they’re not also burning your tongue off.” Three chuckled to herself as she continued to drink. “So, how’s the surface been treating you? Make any friends yet?”

Eight took a moment to swallow the drink she had in her mouth. “Oh a few, mainly the other agents, and Pearl and Marina of course.” 

Three nods in response. “That’s good. What do you think of Callie and Marie?”

“They’re cool, Callie seems to like me, but Marie was a little apprehensive at first. But once Cap’n explained everything she was nice.”

Three laughed “Yeah that sounds like Marie alright. First to point a charger at you, but also the first to knit you a sweater if she likes you. At least I think she can knit.”

Eight giggled as three rubbed her chin.

“What about you three?”

Three was pulled from her thought process abruptly by the question.

“Hm?”

“What, uh, what do you like to do, do you have any friends?”

“Huh, well aside from Callie and Marie I guess not really. I had a few friends back before I became an agent but we fell out of contact. I had a cousin I did almost everything with before I moved to Inkopolis, but they were too young to come with me at the time so I haven’t seen them in ages. I guess that’s partially why I was so excited to get to know you! You can handle yourself in battle, which I admire, and you seem like you’d be fun to hang out with.”

Eight blushed a little at the compliments. “Aw, thank you three.”

“But for hobbies? Eh, I usually just play turf wars. Brings in some extra dollars and also allows me to get rid of pent up frustrations. Ranked is fun but honestly I can’t stand Clam Blitz so I usually just play turf war to avoid accidentally joining a Clam Blitz match.”

Eight giggles again. “Agent Three, the almighty hero who saved the great zapfish and single handedly decimated more than half of DJ Octavio’s army… sucks at Clam Blitz”

Now it was Three’s turn to blush.

“Sh-shut up. I’m not BAD at it, I just don’t LIKE it.”

Eight giggled more. 

Agent 3 was sinking into her shirt now. Why had she revealed that.

Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see eight resting her hand on her shoulder and looking at her in the eyes.

“Relax, I’m just playing. I don’t much care for Clam Blitz either. It’s just… It’s cute when you’re flustered”

Agent 3 paused.

Had eight really just said that? Was she dreaming? Well one thing WAS for sure, she was blushing so hard her entire face was glowing the same orange colour as her ink.

She had to do something to break this uncomfortable silence.

She cleared her throat, gently took eights hand off her shoulder, and returned to her drink.  
“Aha, don’t want your iced coffee to melt, then it would just be lukewarm coffee and no one likes that!”

Eight giggled. Three was cute when she was trying to not be flustered, only because it made her MORE flustered. 

Eventually though, they both calmed down, and were now talking about strategies for turf wars.

“-So the guy splatted me, but the gear I had on at the time saved almost all of my special charge, so I ink up some turf to get it fully charged up, then I find a teammate who’s being attacked by the same clown. I superjump over to them, and about 20 feet in the air I activate my splashdown. What I didn’t realize was their ENTIRE TEAM was hiding in the ink waiting to ambush me when I landed. They didn’t see what hit them and they were all dizzy after the match. It was great!” Three laughed as she retold the story, Eight smiled seeing three beam with enthusiasm.

“So yeah, if you’ve got splashdown, try and superjump before activating it, you might catch some enemies off guard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Eight smiled.

“But I see you primarily use the OctoShot ‘replica’ when you battle” Eight could hear in the tone of three’s voice that she knew it was a genuine octoshot, but Sheldon had modded it slightly so that it registered as a regular replica. “And that has the inkjet, honestly I could never really get the hang of that one personally. But it IS a tremendous distraction in ranked. It takes people’s attention away from the objective. So you may get a few splats with it sure, but use it primarily to help your team get the upper hand by distracting the rest of the other team.”

Eight nodded. She hadn’t considered that. But now that she knew, it was going to change how she played. 

The two talked for hours. Occasionally, three would offer to buy eight something so they could keep chatting. Eight initially refused, but three kept getting snacks and eight’s stomach was starting to feel a little empty.

Eight chanced a look at the clock, my god she’d been here for four hours! The time just seemed to melt away and Three seemed more than happy to be around her. Three’s scar acted up once, but it wasn’t as bad as before. She had to lay her head on the table but she wasn’t screaming in agony. 

Three also checked the clock, my god had it really been that long? Well the coffee shop owners weren’t upset, three had spent so much of her money there over the years she could probably ask it to be closed down just so her and her friend could keep chatting. But she decided on a different course of action.

“Hey, Eight. We’ve been here a while, what do you say we go find someplace to get a proper meal?” 

Eight beamed, her stomach growled, and three smirked.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

Eight just rolled her eyes as her and three left to find some place to get dinner. Together.


	6. Mmmm fooooood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three and Eight decide they like the idea of not starving and go out to eat together. Shenanigans ensue.

Agent 3 hadn’t ever been to a fancy restaurant.

Neither had Agent 8.

Neither of them wanted to either, so they went to a place that was bordering on the line between “Nice” and “Fast food” - Inkopolis Pizza.

They had more than just pizza on their menu, and it WAS a sit down affair. But you didn’t have to wear a nice dress or tuxedo to get in. Hell you could roll up in your sweatpants if you wanted to. Which Three claims she had done multiple times in the past.

“Table for two please.” Three said to the host as they walked in. The host nodded, grabbed two menus and signalled for them to follow him.

“This way please.” The host walks into the dining room with Three and Eight following close behind him. Three would never say it out loud, but in her brain all that she could think was “Pleasegiveusabooth” over and over and over again.

“Here is your table, your server will be with you in a moment.” The host gestured towards a booth, and Three silently celebrated.

Three took her seat on one side of the booth, and Eight took her seat across from her. They both opened up their menus and began to peruse their options. Three flipped through the pages, something new popping out to her every time she did. EIght seemed to be more idly looking through the pages, as though she was studying the options rather than them all popping out to her.

“Man I never know what to get here, there’s so many good options.” Three says as she continues to flip between several pages of the menu.

Eight, on the other hand, had stopped flipping through the pages and had settled on one of them, it seemed she was actually pretty quick to decide what she wanted.

“Eh, I’ll probably just get pasta. It’s one of the few dishes I’ve had since coming to the surface that has actually made me feel FULL.” Eight shrugs. Not wanting to take up too much time after how long Three and her spent at the coffee shop.

Three nodded. “Fair, noodles to have a fair bit of substance to them. In that case I’ll probably get some as well.”

Three looked over the pasta options more intently, not seeing any specific dish pop out to her but pasta as a whole was now calling her name. She studies her options and thinks she’s decided on what she’s going to get. Fortunately, their server was coming up to their table so she could order before she changed her mind.

“Hello there! My name is Erika, I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you both off with something to drink?”

“Yeah uh, I’ll just get an ice water.” Three said, she’d considered a soft drink, but decided against it. 

“Oh, uh, I’ll get a root beer.” Eight replied. Clearly feeling more adventurous than Three right now.

“Alright and are you two ready to order or do you need another minute?” Their server still has her pen and notepad out that she used to jot down their drink order.

“I’m ready if you’re ready.” Three said, looking over to Eight.

“Yeah I think I’m ready too.” Eight smiled.

“Alright what will you have?” The server turned to Three, signaling her to order first.

“Yeah, uh, I’ll get your ‘create your own pasta’ I’ll go with spaghetti with alfredo sauce, please.” Three closes her menu looks over at Eight who’s glancing between the server and her menu.

Their server nodded as she wrote down Three’s order on her notepad. “And for you?” She turned to Eight, signaling her to give her own order.

“OH! I’ll get the Jambalaya Fettuccine.” Eight folded up her menu and handed it to the server, three did the same.

“Alright your drinks will be right out, and your food should be out shortly after.” Their server turned and walked towards the kitchen to get their orders started. 

Now that they weren’t waiting for a server or trying to order anything, they were again able to talk to each other freely. Eight is the first one to speak, and Three is more than happy to let her speak.

“You know, I’m glad you decided to text me today. I had wanted to get to know you but uh, I was a little scared.” Eight blurted out, causing three to blush a little.

“Scared? What do you mean?” Three hoped Eight wasn’t afraid of her, that’s the last thing she wanted.

“Well, partially I was a little intimidated I think. I don’t remember much about my past but I remember you were a force to be reckoned with.” Eight paused, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts. “And then there’s uh, well I mean, I AM an Octoling. Kinda your sworn enemy.”

Three rolled her eyes. “Octolings are not my enemy. Okay? They just happen to make up a large portion of a military I am less than thrilled with the existence of. I don’t want a war, so I fight to keep it from happening. Cap’n himself made sure I wasn’t splatting Octolings for the sake of it, but because they were actively fighting for Octavio. And while that may have been your past, it isn’t your present. It’s who you were, not who you are.”

Eight couldn’t help but tear up a little. “You really think that?”

Three nodded. “I do. Besides, if you’d been a double agent for Octavio, you would’ve lead me away from any respawn points and splatted me with my back turned. But instead, you’re here, talking to me. Making me laugh, making me smile, making me cry. I don’t care where you came from, it’s who you are that matters to me.” Three smiles at Eight, she meant every word. Eight wasn’t her enemy, there’s no reason for her to think Three would dislike her for something that was literally out of her control.

Eight sniffled and wiped a stray tear away from her eyes. “Th-thank you three.”

“For what?” Three raises her eyebrow

“Helping me realize I’m actually free.” Eight smiled. Three affirming that her past was not something Three held against her helped her to push any pieces of it she had behind her. She wasn’t part of Octavio’s army, and she wasn’t a Kamabo test subject. She was Eight, and she liked that very much.

Three smiled. “Any time Eight.”

Unknowingly interrupting the moment, their server returned to their table with their drinks “Here you are, ice water, and a root beer. Your food should be ready in a minute or so.”

“Thank you.” Three said as their server turned and returned to the kitchen. Three took a swig of her water as soon as she got it, but didn’t drink much as she doesn’t want to end up without any once her food arrives.

Eight just looked at her drink, then she looked back at three, then back to her drink, then back to Three. She could tell Three had been going through a lot, she didn’t know the extent of it, but she did know that Three had shut herself in slightly after she broke down in Octo Canyon. Eight didn’t want Three to go through things alone. If anyone could understand how fucked up Kamabo was, it would be her.

“You know, back in the Metro, there were a lot of… discouraging things going on. I had no memories, the tests were borderline torture sometimes, and god knows the lack of food was hellish. But I always had support. Cap’n, Pearl, Marina… they were there for me.” Eight’s voice wavered as she recalled the events of the Metro, but she found strength in remembering the friends she had made as well.

Three just looked at Eight in her beautiful purple eyes. “What are you saying Eight?”

Three could tell Eight had something she desperately wanted to say or to tell her, it was painted across her face. Three calmly and silently waited for Eight to finish her thought. Eight took a moment to compose herself, taking in a deep breath and slowing her hearts a little as they raced. 

“What I’m saying is. Back in Octo Canyon, when you’d had your breakdown, I realized you were like I was in the Metro. Lost and alone. Now you do have friends, but they’re so busy all the time. Callie and Marie both care about you I can tell, but they’re idols, and you can’t exactly go to a therapist every day…” Eight feebly fought back a blush. “I just thought, you know, I could be there for you, the same way my other friends had been there for me.”

Now three was blushing, Three’s mind raced with different versions of what exactly Eight is trying to convey to her. Three, not being one for tactfulness, opts to awkwardly ask for clarification while her face is almost the same colour as the tentacles that sit atop her head. Bright Orange.

“What do you mean Eight?” Eight bites her lip at Three’s query, trying in her mind to formulate the proper words to articulate how she feels and what she wants to say.

Eight took in a deep breath, her own face also practically the same colour as her ink.

“I-I got to know you really well today Three, and I was wondering, if you’d like to… continue.”

“C-continue?” 

Before either of them could say anything else, their server returned with their food. Both Eight and Three said a silent prayer to whatever deity may exist thanking them for the save. The conversation had become very awkward and they were thankful to have a reason to change subjects. Though a part of Three did still wonder, did Eight want to be her friend… or something more?

The meal was mostly ate in silence, Eight was a monster and yet so polite when she ate. The food was gone quickly but there wasn’t a spec of food debris anywhere it shouldn’t be. No doubt thanks to Marina making sure she had proper manners.

Three on the other hand, was a fucking mess.

“Oh my GODS three how did you get sauce ON YOUR FOREHEAD?!” Eight laughed, Three was just enjoying her food with no care about what anyone thought.

“It’s a talent.” She said as she slurped another noodle, somehow causing it to whip about and get sauce on her ear.

Eight facepalmed, Three was adorable, she was helpless to resist her.

“I swear Marina would kill you if she saw the way you eat.” Eight chuckled as she finished off her dish.

“Yeah? So would Marie, not gonna stop me from enjoying my food.” Three said as she finished off the rest of her food as well. Three did, thankfully, snag a napkin to wipe her face with. As much as she didn’t care what she looked like, the sauce felt weird on her face.

Their server rounded the corner just as the pair finished their meals. She came over to their table and Three and Eight offered their now empty plates to her. She loaded them onto the tray she was carrying so she could take them back to the kitchen to be cleaned.

“Is that all for tonight? Would you like to see the desert menu?” Their server glanced between them, patiently waiting for a response.

Eight and three looked at each other and shook their heads. “No we’re good, the food was plenty.” Three said.

Their server nodded, and walked back to the kitchen with their dishes to return them. Shortly she returned with the bill, and looking at the pair she asked a simple question.

“Together or seperate?”

“Together please.” Three said, before Eight could even reply.

“Three, you already bought me coffee today, you don’t need to buy dinner too.” Eight tried to stop Three from expending any more of her money on her, but Three wasn’t having it.

“No no, I insist. It’s the least I can do after what you went through in the metro. And after, you know, trying to kill you.” Three laughed and rubbed the back of her neck.

Eight just rolled her eyes.

“Okay well the first time was justifiable, we were enemies at that point, and the second time you weren’t even calling the shots. You were being controlled.”

Three shudders. “Don’t remind me, that goop stung like hell.”

Eight nods. “Sorry, just kinda thinking out loud.”

“No don’t be sorry, it’s alright. I’ve had worse things happen to me.”

“Really?” Eight raised her eyebrow.

“Yeah, I remember one time you smiled at me and I died.” Three smirked at Eight.

Eight blushed. She wasn’t about to let Three win with that line, as cute as it was.

“How could I not smile, you were the one who looked cute being all dazed and confused.”

Now they were both blushing. Three wasn’t sure how to proceed, but their server awkwardly cleared her throat, pulling Three’s attention back to the bill that still needed to be paid.

“Oh right, sorry!” Three pulled out some of her money and paid their server, leaving them an honest tip. Once their server had gone, Three stood and gestured to Eight. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“A-alright.” Eight followed closely behind Three as they walked out, they’d been together so long it was starting to get dark out. The sun already setting on the horizon.

Three then had an idea, it was a risky idea, but it was an idea.

“Hey, you know how you said you liked the way the sunset looked? Did uh, did you maybe wanna watch the sunset from the roof of my apartment? I think it’s one of the most beautiful places to catch it.” Three blushed as she rubbed the back of her head. She didn’t want to have to say goodbye just yet

Eight blushed, Three had just invited her… to her apartment. Eight had to pause for a moment to allow her thoughts to clear. Eight weighed the options she had, spend more time with Three and watch the sunset from the roof of her apartment, or go home and face Pearl and Marina’s inevitable barrage of questions. The decision was easy.

“Sure, that sounds lovely.” Eight smiles through her blush, and Three beamed.

Three took hold of Eight’s hand and started gently leading her towards the nearest launchpad. “Alright, quickly. Follow me to the super jump pad, if we hurry we won’t miss much of it.”


	7. As one sun sets, another rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun sets as Three and Eight's day together comes to a close. But between them, a light blossoms.

Three was right, the sunset was beautiful from on top of her apartment building. Eight loved the way it reflected off the lake near Inkopolis park, but the way it shone through the city and seemed to dance with the business down below was something else. 

Three had insisted on bringing up some chairs so they could sit together as the sun sets over the horizon. Eight waited patiently for Three to return, watching as the sun veiled through thin clouds slowly lowered through the sky. What Eight hadn’t expected was for three to be carrying the chairs over her shoulder like they weighed nothing.   
  
“Pffft, showoff.” Eight giggled as Three rolled her eyes, setting the chairs down near the edge of the roof that was protected by the short railing.

“So what if I am? You saying you dislike the show?” Three blushed and smirked as she posed, flexing her muscles. She wasn’t even trying to impress Eight, she was just having fun. Though she supposed her attempts at humour would do more to impress her than any literal show of strength would, Eight  _ had _ already saved the world.

“Oh my gods Three, you’re impossible.” Eight laughed and palmed her face, she loved how silly Three could be. The stoic agent, single handedly dismantling Octavio’s armies… was hilarious.

  
“Thank you, I try.” Three bowed, then gestured to the chairs. “Have a seat, please. I brought the chairs up for us to sit on.”   
  
“Oh really? I thought you just brought them here to flex.” Eight smirked and giggled as she made her way to an open chair, Three taking her seat beside her.

“Hardee har you’re hilarious.” Three can’t help but laugh lightly too, Eight’s positivity was getting to her, and she had no issues with that. Three hadn’t been this energetic since before Kamabo. Hell she hadn’t been this enthusiastic since before she moved to Inkopolis! Eight’s presence was something Three very much appreciated.

The pair of them sat together as the sun slowly dipped over the horizon, bathing the sky in beautiful colours. The reflections of the sky off the windows of the city towers were a sight to behold. The light cloud cover making the sky look like a canvas of colours and textures. Three would never admit it, but as she turned her head to look at Eight, she also loved the way the light of the setting sun reflected softly off of Eight’s face, giving her a subtle glow like that of an angel. 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve appreciated a sunset this much since before I became an agent.” Three let slip, turning her head back towards the burning ball of gas in the sky. A soft sigh escaping her lips as she smiles.

“What do you mean?” Eight turns her head to look at Three, the gentle sheen of her tentacles on either side of her reflecting the sun in unique and beautiful ways. The softness of her face emphasized by the gentle light of the descending sun. The curves of her cheeks reflecting and shining light almost like it was Three herself whom was glowing, and not the sun up in the sky. Eight couldn’t help but think the only thing more beautiful in this moment than the sunset, was Three.   
  
“Well, the sunset kinda happens every day. It had lost its magic for me years ago. Especially with…” Three shook her head, dismissing the thought. “But now, seeing how excited you get for it… it’s kinda like I’m seeing it for the first time again too.”   
  
Eight blushed, she silently reached her hand so it held on to Three’s. Three gripped on to Eight’s hand as it entered her own, their fingers interlocking and a faint blush creeping across both of their faces. Eight then rests her head on Three’s shoulder. Three was surprised but not unhappy with the contact. Eight let out a soft sigh that made Three’s hearts ache, and her blush spreads further across her face.

“I’m glad I can share the magic with you. You deserve it Three.” Eight closed her eyes, shuffling slightly closer. Eight loved the way Three’s hand seemed to fit perfectly with her own, and how her shoulder made an amazing pillow.

“So do you, Eight.” Three let out a small sigh and smiled. She rested her own head against Eight’s, watching as the sun crosses over the threshold and the night begins to fade in as daylight fades away.

The pair stay like this until the sun was well below the horizon, bathing the sky in darkness. The lights of Inkopolis City shining a faint glow on the night sky as the stars slowly faded into view. Soon, the Moon rises and gently lights up the night. Eight couldn’t help but feel like somehow, Three had made her appreciate being in Inkopolis even more than she had before. Three couldn’t help but feel like for the first time in forever, she was content with where she was in her life. Neither of them wanted this moment to end. For once, they were both totally at peace.

Eventually though, someone had to speak. They both wanted to carry this moment into eternity, but they knew that all good things have to end at some point. Naturally, it was Eight who found the courage to break the deafening silence that had built between the pair. 

“You know, I’m glad I got to spend time with you today. It was nice to finally get to know you, rather than just know about you.” Eight sighed as she remained resting her head on Three, whos blush would no doubt be not only visible, but painfully obvious, to the aforementioned Octoling had her head not been on her shoulder.

“I’m glad too.” Three’s reply was quick, but calm “I’ve really enjoyed today. Probably the best day I’ve had since before… well you know.”

Eight let out a simple “hmm” indicating she did, in fact, know what Three was referring to, still watching the darkness overtake the daylight. Shortly, a small breeze picks up, the cool evening air blowing over the pair causing Eight to shiver a little. The shiver does not go unnoticed by Three.

“Are you okay?” Three pulls her head away slightly, looking down at the girl resting on her shoulder.   
  
“J-just a little chilly, it’s fine honestly.” Eight tried to dismiss Three’s worries. She didn’t want this moment to end, she wanted to savour it for as long as she possibly could.   
  
Three wasn’t having it. She carefully unzipped her hoodie, shimmied it off without knocking Eight’s head off her shoulder, and gently wrapped it around her. Making sure it rests properly on Eight’s shoulders so it doesn’t slide off.   
  
“There, better.” Three smiles.   
  
“But won’t you get cold?” Eight looks up at Three, a partial worried expression on her face. She doesn’t want to cause Three discomfort over a silly little shivver.   
  
Three looked down at her shirt, an old orange tank top, and she shook her head.

“I’ve been out in colder weather in less than this, I’ll be fine.” She rests her head back on Eight’s and turns her attention back to the diminishing light of the sun.   
  
Eight blushed a little at the thought of Three in… less. But she quickly pushed that thought away. She was enjoying just, sitting here with her. In this moment, everything felt right. If Eight could spend the rest of time in this place, with Three, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

Three would never say it, but she too wished this moment would never have to end. Feeling the gentle rise and fall of Eight’s breaths as her head shifted slightly against her shoulder. The warmth from her hand locked in with her own. The darkness of the night overtaking the brightness of day, and the city coming to life around them. Three was, for the first time in a long time, happy. Weather this could be called a date or not didn’t matter to her. All she knew was, she’s spending time with someone she cares deeply about, and that was more than enough for her. She hoped Eight felt the same wa- Eight is snoring.

“Oh my gods, she’s asleep.” Three whispered to herself. The Octoling had gotten so comfortable that she just, fell asleep.

Three rolled her eyes, of course this would happen. But now what? Three weighed her options, she could try to wake her, but that would be mean, she looked so peaceful. She could stay here until morning, but that also wasn’t ideal. Chairs are not beds. So she was left with her final option… Take Eight into her apartment so she could sleep.

Taking in a quiet but deep breath, Three slowly stands, being careful not to jostle Eight too much as she slides her head off her shoulder. Then she scoops Eight up into her arms, she could come back for the chairs. Carefully Three carries Eight into her apartment. Her face painted orange from her blush. Three considers where she should put the sleeping Octoling in her arms… 

Three had briefly considered putting her on the couch, but Three dismissed that thought as soon as it entered her mind. Eight was a guest and she was going to show her some proper hospitality. So Three decides that SHE will take the couch, and Eight can have her bed for the night. It’s the least she could do after Eight effectively made her happy again, if only for a day. So she carries her into the bedroom, lightly places her on the bed and gently pulls the covers overtop of her, and smiles at the sight of the sleepy Octoling resting in her bed. Eight rolls onto her side and lets out a soft sleepy sigh that melts Three’s hearts.

  
Three quickly snatches one of her pillows so she can use it to sleep on the couch, making sure she doesn’t make too much noise as she prepares to head off to sleep herself.

“Goodnight Eight.” Three says quietly before exiting the room, closing the door so the light doesn’t pour into the room and wake her.

Three then quickly makes her way back up to the roof to snag the chairs she left up there, and on her way up she opens up her phone to send a couple messages as there is now an Octoling asleep in her bed.

\--

Agent 3: Yo you still awake? I need you to relay a message to Pearl and Marina if you can.

Marie: Of course I’m still up, what message do you need relayed?   
  
Agent 3: Just let them know that Eight fell asleep at my place, I don’t want them to worry but I also don’t want to wake up Eight, and I don’t exactly have a car to drive her home with either.

Marie: I can do that. Should I give them your number so they can message you directly?   
  
Agent 3: Yeah that would be good, then if they need me for anything they don’t have to message you first.

Marie: Alright, stay safe Three, use protection.

Agent 3: OH MY GOD MARIE! IT IS NOT LIKE THAT!

Marie: Uh huh, sure, says the one who fucked my cousin.

  
Agent 3: And we were both consenting parties in that act, Eight is asleep right now, and I am not about to do anything to change that.

Marie: Alright Ms. Respectable :P   
  
Agent 3: I hate you

Marie: No you don’t

Agent 3: …

Agent 3: No I don’t. Goodnight Marie.

Marie: Night Three.

\--

Alright, that’s dealt with. 

She made her way onto the roof and snagged the chairs she had left there when she carried Eight down. She carefully made her way down the stairs with them to her floor, trying to not make too much noise as it was incredibly late at night now and she didn’t want to get in trouble with her neighbors. Finally she found herself on her floor, she fished her key out of her pocket and unlocks it, all without setting either of the chairs down. 

Three pushed her way back into her apartment, returning the chairs she’d stolen to their rightful place at her dinner table. She then switched off the main light and grabbed a blanket as she made her way to the couch. She sighed slightly as she laid down, part of her wished she could lay with Eight in her own bed, but she didn’t know if Eight would like that. So she lays down on the couch, covers herself, sets her phone on the coffee table, and slowly drifts to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for Arc number 1! I hope you enjoyed it! Angstgent 24 will return on the 20th with Chapter 1 of arc 2!

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go squidkids, It's time to start my first long-running fanfiction ever. I've got the whole series planned out and I can't wait to get it all published, enjoy! - There is an official Tumblr for this story now! angstgent-24.tumblr.com - Give it a follow to ask questions about the series as well as posts when new chapters go live! I will be updating every Sunday with a weeks break between each arc until the series is finished.


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